Readings for Sunday 3 January 2027
25 Kiyahk 1743
Third Sunday of Kiyank - Abstinence
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 87 : 5
| 5 | And of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her." |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Luke 8 : 1 - 3
| 1 | Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, |
| 2 | and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, |
| 3 | and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance. |
Glory be to God forever.
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Matins Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 96 : 11 - 13
| 11 | Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; |
| 12 | Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the LORD. |
| 13 | For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Mark the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Mark 3 : 28 - 35
| 28 | "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; |
| 29 | but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation"-- |
| 30 | because they said, "He has an unclean spirit." |
| 31 | Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. |
| 32 | And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You." |
| 33 | But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?" |
| 34 | And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! |
| 35 | For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." |
Glory be to God forever.
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Divine Liturgy
Pauline Epistle
Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God. A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Romans.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Romans 9 : 6 - 33
| 6 | But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, |
| 7 | nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." |
| 8 | That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. |
| 9 | For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son." |
| 10 | And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac |
| 11 | (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), |
| 12 | it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger." |
| 13 | As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." |
| 14 | What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! |
| 15 | For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." |
| 16 | So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. |
| 17 | For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." |
| 18 | Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. |
| 19 | You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" |
| 20 | But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" |
| 21 | Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? |
| 22 | What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, |
| 23 | and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, |
| 24 | even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? |
| 25 | As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved." |
| 26 | "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, "You are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God." |
| 27 | Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. |
| 28 | For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth." |
| 29 | And as Isaiah said before: "Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah." |
| 30 | What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; |
| 31 | but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. |
| 32 | Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. |
| 33 | As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. John . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
1 John 2:24-29 1 John 3:1-3
| 24 | Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. |
| 25 | And this is the promise that He has promised us--eternal life. |
| 26 | These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. |
| 27 | But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. |
| 28 | And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. |
| 29 | If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. |
| 1 | Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. |
| 2 | Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. |
| 3 | And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. |
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Amen.
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Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us. Amen.
Acts 7 : 8 - 22
| 8 | Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. |
| 9 | "And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him |
| 10 | and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. |
| 11 | Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. |
| 12 | But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. |
| 13 | And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh. |
| 14 | Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. |
| 15 | So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. |
| 16 | And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. |
| 17 | "But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt |
| 18 | till another king arose who did not know Joseph. |
| 19 | This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. |
| 20 | At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father's house for three months. |
| 21 | But when he was set out, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. |
| 22 | And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. Amen.
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Synaxarium
Day 25 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Kiyahk.
May God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins are forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers. Amen.
The Twenty-Fifth Day of the Blessed Month of Kiyahk
Departure of St.John Kama
On this day, the great Saint John Kama departed.
He was from "Shubramento" of the region of "Sa". His parents were God-fearing
Christians and he was their only child. They forced him to marry against
his will. When he entered his wife's room, he stood, prayed for a long
time, then came near the young girl and said to her, "My sister, you know
that the world and all of its lusts will go away. Do you agree with me
to keep our bodies pure and clean?" She answered and said, "My brother,
the Lord's Name lives. This also is my desire and now the Lord has given
me what my heart desires." They mutually agreed to live together as brother
and sister and to keep their virginity. When they slept, the angel of the
Lord came and covered them with his wings. For their many virtues, God
planted a vine for them which grew up and covered their place of sleep.
That was a sign of their purity and holiness; for what they did was above
human nature, that two young people, a man and a woman, would sleep next
to each other without being driven by the lust of the flesh; for who can
come near a fire and not be burnt, unless it is God's divine power and
care that keeps them and preserves them.
When their parents saw that they lived together
for a long time without having any children, they thought that this was
due to the fact that they were young. One day John said to his wife, "My
sister, I desire to go into the wilderness to become a monk and I cannot
do that without your permission." She gave him her permission and he placed
her in one of the virgins' convents. There she became a virtuous nun and
she performed many miracles, so they chose her to become the abbess of
the convent. As for St. John, when he left his town, the angel of the Lord
appeared to him and guided him to the wilderness of Scetis "Shiheet". He
went there and became a monk in the cell of Saint "Darudi" in the monastery
of St. Macarius. He stayed with this saint learning piety from him until
the saint departed. Then the angel of the Lord told him to go west of the
monastery of St. John the Short and to build a cell for himself there.
He went and did as the angel commanded him. Three hundred brethren gathered
around him and became his disciples. They built a church and a house with
a garden for themselves and Saint John Kama taught them how to pray and
the use of the "Epsalmodia". One night, St. Athanasius the Apostolic appeared
to them while they were singing the song of the three young men. St. Athanasius
revealed many mysteries to him. Another time, St. Mary appeared to him
and told him, "This is my dwelling forever, and I shall be with them as
I have been with you and this monastery will be named after me." The church
of the monastery was named after the Virgin St. Mary. Some of the monks
of upper Egypt desired to be under the guidance of St. John Kama and they
asked him to come to see them. He called a brother named Shenouda, and
gave him the responsibility of caring for the brethren until his return.
When he returned, he found that he performed the task perfectly. When St.
John Kama completed his course, he departed in peace.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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Divine Liturgy Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 80 : 1 - 3
| 1 | Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! |
| 2 | Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, Stir up Your strength, And come and save us! |
| 3 | Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Luke 1 : 57 - 80
| 57 | Now Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. |
| 58 | When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. |
| 59 | So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. |
| 60 | His mother answered and said, "No; he shall be called John." |
| 61 | But they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name." |
| 62 | So they made signs to his father--what he would have him called. |
| 63 | And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, "His name is John." So they all marveled. |
| 64 | Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. |
| 65 | Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. |
| 66 | And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, "What kind of child will this be?" And the hand of the Lord was with him. |
| 67 | Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: |
| 68 | "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, |
| 69 | And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, |
| 70 | As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, |
| 71 | That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, |
| 72 | To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, |
| 73 | The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: |
| 74 | To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, |
| 75 | In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. |
| 76 | "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, |
| 77 | To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, |
| 78 | Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; |
| 79 | To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace." |
| 80 | So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel. |
Glory be to God forever.
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